Report: GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania to retire in 2022

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last updated 5 October 2020

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) does not plan on running for re-election in 2022, two people with knowledge of the matter told The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday.

Toomey, 58, is expected to make a formal announcement on Monday. He is now serving his second term, and won both of his Senate races by narrow margins.

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Charlie Gerow, a Republican consultant in Harrisburg, told the Inquirer that Toomey's decision is "incredibly surprising. It throws dozens of wild cards into the mix." With Toomey out of the running, future GOP Senate and gubernatorial primaries will be "a free for all," Gerow said, with "dozens of candidates emerging from the political and business communities. Half the legislature's going to want to run."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.